


humming in the dark

by houndstooth



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Light Angst, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25625368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houndstooth/pseuds/houndstooth
Summary: It had pierced through the cold fog that had settled in his mind — weak still, enveloped by the decades of self-loathing and disappointment he’d come to accept as normal as quickly as it had come, but Freyr had felt it; a warm and ephemeral sense of hope that if he took this path instead, the circumstances would be different.And he did not want to let that feeling go. He wanted to find it again, and hold onto it a little longer.Freyr makes a choice. He hopes he is better for it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	humming in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> *steals freyr from geo and runs*

What is it that gives him this uncharacteristic pause? What is it that makes him hesitate to lift his sword? 

What is it that, with a sidelong glance to the will of the world made manifest as he makes his way to stand straight and tall in front of the skydwellers, makes him abandon his assured promise in favor of _their_ transient ideal?

He does not miss the wary gaze Baal fixes him with, nor the way his shoulders tense and his breathing slights as he draws his sword from its sheath. _This is for all of us,_ he recalls thinking as he had gingerly placed the primal atop Gullinbursti and followed after Geo to confront the rest of their group. He had not done it out of ill will or malice. Regret stirs in his core but the opportunity for apologies, accepted or not, would present themselves after they dealt with this. 

A puzzled expression crosses Geo’s face. He seems to realize that Freyr is not coming back; in an instant, his face twists into a fiery show of rage and hostility. “Your minds have been poisoned by the worthless skydwellers you seem keen to keep in your company,” Geo spits. “Even _you_ , Freyr? Weren’t you going to help me bring peace to all the primal beasts in the world? Weren’t you going to protect them?”

“I was,” he responds quietly. 

_I still am._

He had not abandoned his duty. The oath that still made him wield his sword, the oath that still pushed him to fulfill the purpose of his being even through years and years of failure; it was all that he could think about. 

_Be a sword for the worthy. Be a shield for the weak._

Geo scowls, his face dark. “So be it,” he says, lifting a hand to scratch at the chin of the dark-scaled dragon sitting atop his shoulder. “A shame they’ve gotten to an honorable beast like you.” 

The beast yawns and procures a small puff of reddish flame, flapping its wings lazily. Geo turns his attention to the prone forms of the beasts he’d summoned to face the primal group. They lay in trembling piles at his feet, brought low by the combined might of Medusa and her companions.

They would not last much longer if he forced them to throw their battered bodies at them again. 

“With or without you, I will fulfill my duty. I will realize the wish of all primal beasts that have been forsaken in this world.” 

And as Geo speaks, he plunges his hand into the chest of Snow White. She writhes in agony as the edges of her being flicker and fade into bright light. It bathes Geo in a pale blue glow. He murmurs to her in a voice too low for Freyr to pick up; her eyes cloud with — regret? uncertainty? — but with great effort, she shifts her gaze past Geo to glance at Baal. 

She is gone in the next minute, absorbed into his being with a pained and ragged sound leaving her lips. 

Freyr watches. It was an occurrence he has been witness to numerous times as he had traveled at Geo’s side. _Core absorption._ Their consciousness would merge and rest eternal in the vast core that resided within Geo, sharing the space with all the other primals he’d brought salvation to. They would be numb and safe and free of pain. 

But as Medusa had emphasized, they would not be alive and individual in the way unmerged primal beasts existed now.

Geo walks a little ways over to Zaoshen. 

It blinks at him, eyes bright and shiny with pain. 

He kneels and whispers something to it. The beast rumbles a response only Geo is privy to. He lifts a hand to rub at its scales, careful to avoid the nastier wounds. A pained look flashes in his eyes for the briefest of seconds, but it is swiftly replaced with cold determination. Geo gives Zaoshen’s hide one last pat, then shoves his hand into the serpent’s body. He soothes it gently as it flickers and fades and envelops him in light, writhing all the while. 

Both beasts are gone, the only evidence of their presence the drops of blood that stained the ground.

Geo straightens and turns back to face them. He casts his gaze around the group, pointedly ignoring the singularity and the girl in blue. 

“I’ll ask you one more time,” he says, his voice soft and sincere. He places a hand on his chest in a gesture of empathy. “Together, we can free ourselves of all this heartache and sorrow. We could finally, _finally_ live in peace.”

Freyr slowly lets out the breath he’d been holding. 

A part of him wanted it so badly — enough that he _would_ have stayed the course and willingly complied with Geo to be used as he saw fit. It would have ended with him bloodied and bruised and absorbed like the others, he had no doubt, but it was merely finite pain for infinite tranquility. It was a final opportunity to get away from it all, and help the primal beasts that had suffered due to skydwellers attain peace. 

The will of the world had been the reason he continued to move forward. It had been the reason he had taken Geo’s hand all that seasons ago. It had been the reason he’d convinced himself their cause true and their actions just. 

Better that than be forced to contend with the deep ache in his core, he had thought. Better that than be confronted with the knowledge that his best hadn’t been good enough, and that his efforts were like a single drop of water in a vast ocean. 

Oh, it would be so easy to say _yes_.

But as much as he longed for salvation, as much as he had pledged himself to fulfilling the will of the world despite the doubt and hesitation that roiled in his breast as he had followed Geo on this path of his own free will, he had borne witness to a sudden and instantaneous moment of clarity amidst it all. 

It had pierced through the cold fog that had settled in his mind — weak still, drowned out by the decades of self-loathing and disappointment he’d come to accept as normal as quickly as it had come, but Freyr had _felt_ it; a warm and ephemeral sense of hope that if he took this path instead, the circumstances would be different. 

And he did not want to let that feeling go. He wanted to find it again, and hold onto it a little longer. 

Freyr readjusts the grip on his sword. He spares a glance at the singularity and the girl behind him. He knows their strength, having seen it in full display only moments before. He knows there is something about them that inspired confidence — otherwise, Medusa and Baal and Nezha and Satyr would not be willing to face Geo to ensure their lives. Their eyes are bright and determined and familiar in their innocence, but they are eyes he can trust. 

They are a cause he can find purpose in, no matter how slight it would be or how long it would take. 

“Yours is a path I can no longer follow,” Freyr says, staring into Geo’s eyes. “I… do not regret following you as I have, and our purposes yet remain the same.”

Geo blinks at him. Once, twice. “But you still decide to side with _them._ How unfortunate,” he replies, heaving an exaggerated sigh as he shakes his head in disappointment. His eyes harden with focused fury. “If you won’t listen to reason, I guess I’ll just have to convince you through _other_ means, instead.”

The singularity — Gran, Freyr recalls — steps up to stand beside him, sword at the ready. “Business as usual,” he says rather cheerily, despite his wounds from the battles from earlier. He looks over at Freyr, expression turning serious. “Are you with us?”

“I am,” Freyr responds. Gullinbursti materializes at his side when he calls for him. “As long as I am able, my blade is yours.”

Gran nods, a crooked smile lighting up his face. “Good to hear,” he says. “And don’t push yourself on our accounts; Lyria and I can take care of ourselves pretty well.”

Freyr stares at him, eyebrows furrowed together. “You do not have to concern yourself with my wellbeing, skydweller.”

Gran squints back at him. “And why shouldn’t I? We’re working together now, aren’t we?”

“...We are,” he says after a second of silence. Freyr had no rebuttal for such simplistic reasoning.

“Dunno how’ll effective the little healing magic I know will be, but if you need it, let me know!” Gran turns back to face Geo, voice firm. “Let’s get to it, then!”

‘Other means’ is absorbing the cores of Medusa’s sisters and drawing upon their power to transform into a terrifying amalgamation of dragonhide and snakeskin. The air vibrates with a pressure Freyr has not felt before in all his decades of existence. It takes all of their combined might to even put up a fight against this new form — and the singularity and the girl in blue are exempt from his wrath. 

Still, they press on. Still, they keep fighting. Still, they promise to give it their all — not just for their sakes, but for the sakes of their comrades. 

The embers of a duty long forgotten flicker in Freyr’s chest as he assists them with all he has. Gullinbursti charges at Geo with all his might. Freyr wields his sword with renewed fervor, with adamant purpose behind every strike.

And once, just once, he calls upon the powerful magic within himself and casts it over the crew and their companions. It bathes them in a golden light.

It is a brief but dazzling moment of glory.

He cannot call it luck that allows them to finally drive back Geo and retrieve the cores of Medusa’s sisters from his being — that would be unkind and irreverent. He sees the way the singularity works in tandem with Medusa and Baal, the way the girl in blue offers her supportive presence and destructive powers to aid them from the back line. 

This was unlike the War, where primals were utilized as nothing but tools and pointed in the direction where they had to go. This is nothing like the waking seasons, where skydwellers would come in droves to wreak havoc on the island in harrowing displays of selfish violence. 

In the end, and with frightening speed, Geo lifts into the air and flees. Freyr watches as he gets smaller and smaller, becoming nothing more than a speck on the horizon. It feels as if a part of himself had been taken on those dark-silver wings, and he is lighter for it. 

Gullinbursti walks up to him and pokes at him with his snout. Freyr sheathes his sword and looks down at the boar, a light smile on his face. He raises a hand to give his side a few appreciative pets. “You did well, my friend,” he says warmly. “Thank you.”

His body well and truly ached, but it was over... for now, at least. He was unsure if Geo would be back, if this Zooey would take care of the primal beast instead. There were too many unknowns and uncertainties for his liking, and the shadow of failure ever lurked in the back of his mind.

But he had made his choice.

He would not hesitate to pick it again.

**Author's Note:**

> i am both very thankful and very sad that summer freyr exists. i’m still holding onto the hope he’ll join the crew one day for real and get the company he deserves,,
> 
> all mistakes are mine and really i just had to get this out so i could feel at peace with myself; as always, thanks for reading!!


End file.
